The Michigan State University Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics (AFRE) has been ranked first among all agricultural and applied economics departments in the world again for its excellence in developing and publishing impactful research papers and articles by Research Papers in Economics (RePEc).
AFRE is home to some of the world’s premiere agricultural economists including four current Fellows of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) and many award winning tenured and fixed term faculty members.
“AFRE’s sustained ranking as the number one department among all academic institutions in the field of agricultural and applied economics further illustrates the impressive quality and productivity of our faculty and students in research and policy engagements around the world," said Department Chairperson Titus Awokuse. "Given the ongoing scholarly activities in AFRE, I’m confident we will continue to expand the scope of our professional and societal impact for years to come.”
In addition to the top ranking of the department as whole, several faculty members are included in the top agricultural economics authors list, also generated by RePEc. Thomas Jayne, recent AAEA Fellow, lands at number ten on the list, with fellow Spartans including Thomas Reardon, David Hennessy, Robert Myers, Melinda Smale, Scott Swinton, Songqing Jin, and Steve Haggblade close behind.
The rankings by the RePEc are based on the proportion of all working papers and refereed journal articles from individuals affiliated with each institution. AFRE was ranked first among all academic departments globally, and fourth among all institutions, only after the World Bank Group, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) is a collaborative effort of hundreds of volunteers in 95 countries to enhance the dissemination of research in Economics and related sciences. The heart of the project is a decentralized bibliographic database of working papers, journal articles, books, books chapters and software components, all maintained by volunteers.